Despair's Last Resort
by ParadoxProphet
Summary: Takara Tsukuda thought she was going to Hope's Peak Academy, but her and 15 other students find themselves in a place called Paradise Resort on a school vacation. But a certain bear shows up to cause trouble for the SHSL Journalist and everyone else... (Originally posted on DA and AO3 between May 2014 and January 2015)
1. Prologue - A Stay For Sixteen I

Hope's Peak Academy, the most prestigious school in all of Japan. Only a select few were invited to attend, for there are no entrance exams. It is a school that, should one accept their invitation, allowed a person great success in life. Getting into a university would be no problem, and finding a career would be simple. The school was a source of hope for the country, and any high school student would dream of being allowed to attend. And as fortune would have it, that dream was coming true for one girl.

Standing outside of the gates was Takara Tsukuda. In her hand she held the letter she received just two weeks ago. The letter stating that she had been invited with the title of Super High School Level Journalist, a talent she definitely believed she deserved.

She had dedicated herself to finding out the truth and only the truth, which she would then write articles about. Her dedication to researching the facts made what she wrote all the more interesting. She tore down countless rumors and debunked many scandals with just pen and paper. She had written for newspapers, magazines, news websites, even television reports. There just wasn't any other way to describe it, Takara was passionate when it came to journalism. And it all turned out to be worth it, now that she was standing here. She always wanted Hope's Peak to recognize her for her skills, and now she could find out the secrets behind the school's walls. She had even prepared herself for what would come by compiling facts and information on all of her soon-to-be classmates. There was no doubt that she would be set for the rest of her high school years.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. While she was excited, she didn't want to leave any bad impressions due to her joy. Without any more hesitation, she walked towards the gates. "Look out Hope's Peak Academy," she shouted to no one. "because Takara Tsukuda is-"

As she walked through the gates, she began to feel light headed. The whole world seemed to be spinning in front of her eyes. She couldn't even find the strength to stand up anymore. As her vision became blurry, she fell to the ground and lost consciousness. This was definitely not going to be your average school year.

"..."

"...y"

"Ca...ear me?"

"...ake up."

"Please, you need to wake up."

Takara heard a voice she didn't recognize as she felt her strength return. Did someone find her lying in front of the school building? She slowly opened her eyes, finding herself face to face with two unfamiliar people looking down at her. A bright light was shining in her eyes, leaving her unable to discern who they were. All she could tell was that one was a boy and the other was a girl. Her head still ached as she tried to stand up. The boy seemed to be worried, as he took hold of her arm to help her up. "Woah there, take it easy." he said with concern. "You've been out for quite some time now, you shouldn't be moving too fast. Just take it slow for a moment."

"Um, sure. I got it." Takara said, her thoughts still jumbled. She tried to process the appearance of the boy assisting her. He wore what looked like a white lab coat, though she couldn't make out what he was wearing underneath it. She decided that it wouldn't be best to stand up just yet and just sat up. She needed to get her thoughts together.

"We were worried that you weren't going to wake up." The girl said, messing with her braided hair. "The rest of us woke up at once, but you just wouldn't budge."

"...The rest of you?" Takara asked.

"She's talking about everyone else in the room. Hold on, let me go tell them that you're awake." The boy answered. He stood up and called out to someone she couldn't see. "You guys, she woke up!"

The girl with the glasses helped Takara stand upright, allowing her to see just who else was there. A whole group of teenagers, around her age from the looks of it, were now staring at her. Some were shocked, while others looked relieved. Takara looked around and noticed that they weren't outside the building anymore. They were all standing in some large room filled with small tables and chairs. It almost looked like a conference room, but what would something like that be doing at Hope's Peak? "Does anyone know where we are?" she asked.

"No, we all just found ourselves here!" A girl wearing some kind of sports uniform answered. "Apparently we all fainted outside of the school building and woke up here!"

"Why would anyone take us in the first place though?" A nervous looking boy asked, his eyes constantly darting around the room.

"Ooooooooo! Maybe it's some kind of surprise party!" Another girl said as she jumped up and down. "I love surprises!"

"Somehow I don't think we're here for a surprise party." An aloof boy replied. "There's not even a cake or anything."

"Maybe it's just some kind of prank the school's pulling on us." Another boy said, trying to make light of the situation. "You know, something they pull on the freshmen to psyche them out."

"Dat better be all dis is!" A tall girl exclaimed. "'Cause if it ain't, den someone's gonna meet my fists!"

"Maybe that will tell us something?" A girl with a scarf asked, pointing at a piece of paper that rested on top of a table. How did no one notice it until now? Takara didn't have time to figure that out right now, she needed to know what was going on. She picked up the paper and unfolded it, revealing a letter.

"Well, what does it say?" A boy asked, getting quite irritated. "There's no need to keep it's contents to yourself."

Takara resisted the urge to give him a dirty look as she read the letter out loud.

"Greetings new students of Hope's Peak Academy. I apologize for the sudden relocation, as you're probably all confused. But do not be alarmed, this is merely a gift from the school. You all probably spent the remainder of your summer vacation preparing yourselves for your new school year. And I would hate to have been the cause for you to miss out on a chunk of your break. Therefore, the school has arranged this all expenses paid trip for you. You will be spending the next two weeks in this amazing mountainside resort. This shall allow you to have a proper end to your summer vacation and letting you become closer to your fellow students. All your bags have already been brought here, and they currently sit outside of your rooms along with your room keys. There will be a faculty member arriving shortly to keep an eye on you, we're not about to let you all run around unsupervised after all. Your families have all been informed of this, so there's no need to worry. So just relax and enjoy yourselves. And don't worry, you won't be missing out on anything at the school while this is happening. Your school year will officially begin once the two weeks are up. Have fun, Headmaster Jin Kirigiri."

No one spoke, they were all trying to take in everything they had just heard.

"Wait, they're really giving us an extended vacation?" A boy finally asked. "Are schools even allowed to do that?"

"It would appear that they can." A short girl answered. "Otherwise they would not have sent us here in the first place. Hope's Peak Academy is not any ordinary school after all, so they must have the ability to send us here."

"Still though, doesn't this all seem, I don't know, odd?" Another boy asked. "This all seems pretty sudden, just sending us here with no warning. Where are we anyway? All they said was a mountainside resort."

"Well in that case we should go explore, explore, explore!" The hyperactive girl said, making a straight rush to the door. Well she was just a ball of energy.

"We should take a better look at just where we are." The irritated boy from before said. "We should all meet back up in here once we're finished. And someone should tell her that once someone finds her." Although a few of the students wanted to question why he was making the shots, most of the students began walking towards the door as well. Takara could pick up comments from them. Some wanted to find their rooms while others wanted to look around the surrounding area before the chaperone showed up. Aside from herself, only a few other people remained in the room. Since she was still here, she decided it was best to talk to them and introduce herself.

She first noticed the boy who was helping her earlier. Since her vision was clearing up, she could see his appearance perfectly. Just as she suspected, he was wearing a kind of lab coat over a school uniform. His hair was tied back in a neat looking ponytail. He looked like a doctor despite the fact he was young. He turned to look at her and smiled. "I see you're looking better." he said.

"Yeah, I guess I just needed a minute so my head could stop spinning." Takara said.

"Maybe you should sit down for a moment then." The boy said. "If your head's spinning, staying still is probably best until you feel completely well."

"I think I'll be fine, it's not that bad." Takara said, feeling the dizziness vanishing. "I'm not usually the fastest person to recover, but I think I can move."

"Oh, okay then, if you say so." The boy answered in a low voice. He sounded disappointed, but it didn't look like he was going to fight back. He wasn't going to make any objections? What was he, some kind of pushover? "I'm just glad you're doing alright now. If you hadn't woken up, who knows what we would've done. I certainly don't have the medical knowledge to deal with comas, and I have a feeling that no one else here does. I don't think we've introduced ourselves, have we?"

"Nope, that's why I came over." Takara admitted.

"Then I guess we should take care of that, don't you think?" The boy responded with a laugh. "I'm known as Minoru Yoshihara, also known as the Super High School Level Veterinarian."

This was where Takara's research came in handy, otherwise she wouldn't have known anything about him. Minoru was a master when it came to healing animals. Even though his family only ran a small animal clinic, his ability to treat and cure sick pets quickly gave it a big name. No one knew just how he managed to do it, though there were rumors that it was because he had a psychic connection with animals. She recalled reading somewhere that he was a vegetarian, but couldn't remember if that was a rumor or not.

"It seems like everyone isn't all that worried about being brought here, huh?" Takara said, hoping to strike up a conversation.

"No, I suppose they're not. You'd think the school would tell us about this kind of thing, wouldn't you?" Minoru sighed. "If you ask me, it's rather strange that they took us here without warning. Do they always do this?"

"I can't say for sure." Takara said with a shrug. "Though I can't say that they should knock us out like that. That just seems like overkill."

"Maybe they did it to keep things a secret?" Minoru suggested. "I doubt it's the most efficient way of keeping the surprise, but there has to be a method to the madness, right?"

"Maybe. The only way to know for sure is when our chaperone gets here." Takara said. "Surely they can answer our questions."

"I sure hope so." Minoru said. He looked away from Takara, something behind her catching his attention.

"What are you staring at?" she asked.

"That girl over there, she hasn't said much at all." Minoru said. Takara turned around to see that yes, there was a girl standing by the wall. Strange, how come she hadn't noticed them sooner? The girl in question didn't seem all that peculiar. In fact, she looked pretty ordinary. She had black wavy hair that went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a black pullover hoodie, a dark purple skirt, and purple and black striped stockings. Nothing that seemed to stand out all that much. Not even her expression told the journalist much about her. She looked pretty aloof.

"Maybe I should try to find out what's up with her." Takara said.

"Good luck with that." Minoru said. "While you were knocked out, everyone was talking to each other and introducing themselves. Yet no one could get much out of her. We all tried our best and couldn't even get out a name or talent."

"Did you try hard enough?" Takara asked with a raise of the eyebrow.

"Well...I guess not." Minoru admitted, looking down at his shoes. "I tried to say 'hi' and left her alone when she didn't say anything."

"You're a pushover, aren't you?" Takara said, voicing her thoughts.

Minoru nearly jumped back. "Is it that obvious?" he asked.

"Sorry, but it kinda is." Takara answered, trying not to laugh a little.

"I knew it, I'm an open book!" Minoru said. It looked like he was about to cry. "I've always been so easy to read! I was hoping that would change if I came here."

"I'm sure you'll get better in time, and grow a backbone while you're at it." Takara said with a smirk. "Well I'm still going to try talking to her. If there's one thing you can say about me, it's that I'm determined."

"I think you mean 'stubborn'." Minoru said. Takara gave him a strange look, causing him to flinch. "Woah, no need to glare like that! It was only a joke! I'll see you later, Takara!" He walked out of the room, probably to join in with the others in the exploration. Or maybe it was to get away from her gaze, she wasn't sure. Either way, that left left the journalist to approach the quiet girl.

"Hey there, nice to meet you!" Takara said, trying to get the girl to respond. Yet she received no reaction. That wasn't enough to make her give up though. "I'm Takara Tsukuda, Super High School Level Journalist! And you are?" Still no response. What was with this girl? "Hey, can you hear me? I'm trying to say hello to you." The girl blinked as she moved a strand of hair out of her face.

"Oh. Sorry." she said in a monotone voice. "I'm Miyako Morino."

Miyako Morino? That name didn't ring any bells. Takara tried to think about what her talent was, but nothing came to her. "So, what's your talent?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound like an idiot.

"...Super High School Level Good Luck." Miyako replied.

Ah, that explained it. Takara remembered reading that every year, Hope's Peak Academy held a randomized lottery with the name of every high school student in the country. If a person's name was drawn through that lottery, then they would be admitted into the school with the title of Super High School Level Good Luck. Even though she found it ridiculous, Takara had to admit that to have your name chosen from among thousands of other students, you would have to be pretty lucky. Even though she was pretty sure that good luck wasn't a talent, and she had found some pretty strange titles other Hope's Peak students had been given. To her knowledge, it was the only way an average student even had the chance of making it into the school. She would have thought that the one who was picked would at least be more...emotional.

"So, what do you think about all this?" Takara asked. There had to be a way to get some emotion out of her. "This whole resort situation seems pretty crazy, huh?"

Miyako stood in thought for a moment before saying. "I guess." Wow, she was certainly talkative. "Sorry. I'm not much of a conversation person. You should go look around."

"Are you sure? I mean, there's got to be something you want to talk about." Takara insisted. She wasn't about to give up easily.

"No. You should look around before the chaperone gets here. Good bye." As soon as she finished talking, Miyako immediately headed for the door. She really didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Wow, talk about being rude." Takara said. Though Miyako did have a point. There was no use standing around here all day. Everyone else had already left by this point, either to find their rooms or go see what they could find around the resort.

Takara decided that she should do so as well, she did want to make sure all her things were there like the letter said. But before she could leave, she found herself stopped by a hand on her shoulder. "You feeling alright to go off by yourself?" A male voice asked. Takara turned around to see the relaxed boy from before standing beside her, she didn't even know he was still here. The boy had tanned skin, most likely from being in the sun all day, and messy hair that she almost mistook for being blonde. He wasn't wearing anything special, just a plain t-shirt and jeans with a vest. Hanging around his neck were a set of goggles. "I'm just asking since you've been out cold for so long and all."

"Oh, no, I should be fine for now." Takara said. While it was true that she didn't need any help, she also didn't want someone following her around. Especially some guy she had never met before. "But thanks for the offer, um..."

"Oh, right, how foolish of me! I forgot to introduce myself! What poor manners I have!" The boy said, realizing that Takara was trying to figure out what to call him. "My name is Satoshi Teruya. I'm the Super High School Level Archaeologist."

That explained a lot. Takara didn't need to do much research when it came to him, as he was almost always talked about on the news and online. Satoshi Teruya was a major factor in scientific and historical finds in the past few years. He had found fossils and ancient artwork that shook the world by storm. No one knew how he did it, but he had a knack for finding buried relics. "That explains the tan skin." she said, trying to make a joke.

"Hehe, yeah, I've spent so much time excavating that I got a tan." Satoshi explained. "Though people keep thinking I'm not Japanese because of it. I don't know why though, my name is clearly Japanese."

"It's a mystery I suppose." Takara said.

"Well what about you, what's your name?" Satoshi asked.

"Oh right. I'm Takara Tsukuda." she said with a smirk.

Satoshi's eyes seemed to sparkle. "You mean you're _the_ Takara Tsukuda? The journalist who's wrote countless articles and is a legend in the reporting world? You're actually her?" he asked, unable to contain his excitement. Takara just nodded her head. And here she thought her excitement would weird people out. "This is amazing! I'm such a fan of your work! Oh, I've always wanted to meet you! And here we are in the same class! This is amazing!"

"Yes, yes, it's wonderful." Takara said, trying not to sound rude. "Well, it was nice meeting you Satoshi, but I really must be going. I have things to unpack and all that."

"Oh, right, I'm sorry to have kept you!" Satoshi said. "Maybe we can talk later then?"

"Yeah, sure! Of course!" Takara said, eager to leave. "Well, um, bye!" With that, she tried to get out of the door as fast as possible.

"See you later, Kara-chan!" Satoshi yelled out to her as she walked away. Takara froze for a moment, unwilling to believe what she just heard.

"Did he just call me...Kara-chan?" she asked herself in a whisper. Without wanting to dwell too much on it at the moment, she walked away.

She found herself in what appeared to be the hotel lobby. Near the entrance was the front desk, which was strangely unoccupied. Shouldn't there have been someone working? The lobby itself was also quite spacious. She found signs pointing to different locations in the building. There was a restaurant, a pool, a recreational room (which appeared to be where she had just came from), and that was just on the first floor! She began to wonder what kind of place they had all found themselves in. Takara searched for hallways leading to the hotel rooms, but the only ones she found were all blocked off by warning tape. "Are you serious? Are they under repairs or something?" she asked herself.

"I'm not sure, but for one reason or another they want to keep us out of these halls. And that's not all, the pool locker rooms and the lounge appear to be blocked off as well." A voice from behind startled her enough to almost make her jump. She quickly turned around to find another boy standing behind her. His appearance was a drastic difference from Satoshi and Minoru, it was almost unreal. Though it was mostly the bright blue hair that stuck out and shocked her. Blue and black seemed to be what he was going for, as all of his clothes used only those colors. He was wearing a black waistcoat over a blue dress shirt, yet for some reason he had a black jacket tied around his waist. His dark blue pants were almost undistinguished from the black boots he was wearing. If not for the jacket around his waist, Takara would have assumed he was going to a fancy dinner party instead of a school. The boy pushed his glasses closer to his face, getting a closer look at Takara. "Ah, you're the girl who was still unconscious earlier. We all managed to introduce ourselves earlier, but you were left out of the loop."

"You don't need to talk down to me like I'm a child." Takara said, getting irritated with this guy and his condescending tone.

"I didn't mean to, I was only trying to help." The boy responded. "Anyway, I'm known as Arata Miyazaki."

Ah yes, the Super High School Level Designer. That explained the strange outfit. Arata Miyazaki had taken the world of Japanese fashion by surprise a few years ago. Although he was young, he had a knack for making the trendiest clothes in the country. There were people who would kill to have just one article of his clothing. They costed thousands of yen, but they were worth it. Anyone who was anyone wore his clothes, there were even rumors that Junko Enoshima wore pieces from his line. There was just no denying it, Arata was a starter of fashion trends, and even improved existing ones. The only problem was that he sometimes had an inflated ego.

"It's nice to meet you, Arata." Takara began. "I'm Takara Tsukuda." She began to prepare herself in case there was another similar case to Satoshi, but he didn't seem to react. Instead, he just stared down at her in a judging manner. The silence was kind of disturbing.

"Oh no, no, no. This just won't do at all." Arata said. "These clothes just don't suit you in the slightest! They're just so plain!"

Takara looked down at her outfit. All she was wearing was an orange t-shirt, and a beige skirt. Nothing fancy or flashy. Though to be fair, she had expected to be getting a school uniform when she had arrived and didn't bother to pack any special clothes. "What's wrong with my clothes?" she asked.

"It's just that someone of your talent deserves a much more fitting attire!" Arata began. "You need to look more like the journalist you truly are! The instant I can find the way to our rooms, I'll unpack a fitting set of clothes that you can change into!" He seriously packed outfits for other people?! What did he think he was going to need them for?!

"So if our rooms aren't on the first floor, then where are they?" Takara asked.

"All of our rooms are located on the second floor." A new voice answered. Takara and Arata turned to find a short girl standing beside them. Her long, wavy hair was black as night itself, and almost appeared to form a shroud around her. She wore a simple black dress under a cloak of the same color. Around her neck was what appeared to be a magatama necklace. If it hadn't been for her friendly face and the lack of a hat, Takara could have mistaken her for a witch. The girl smiled at Takara. "Greetings, my fellow classmate. My name is Chiyo Ueda, and I am the Super High School Level Medium."

Chiyo was the only one among them who Takara questioned their talent. She was supposedly an expert at dealing with ghosts and spirits. She could sense the presence of the departed who refused to move on and could communicate with them, figuring out what caused them to linger and finding a way to let them move on to the next world. She could also contact the spirit world in order to speak to someone who had already moved on. There were even rumors that she could sense when a person was close to death. Many believed her abilities came from her lineage, as her family owned a centuries old shrine that was famous throughout the country. Though Takara refused to believe in anything unless she could gain evidence. It wasn't that she believed the girl was a liar, but Takara was just the kind of person who required solid proof to believe something. Ghosts just happened to be one of those things.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Tsukuda." Chiyo said, bowing out of formality. She was certainly polite, nothing that Takara had been expecting. "I do hope we can become friends even in our peculiar situation."

Peculiar was one way to put it. "You mean you found our rooms?" Arata asked her.

"Yes. I have already taken my own room key and placed my bags away." Chiyo explained. "A few of the others are already there doing the very same."

"So how can I get upstairs?" Arata asked.

"You will have to take the stairs I am afraid." Chiyo said. "The elevator is not working. Do not worry though, Mr. Miyazaki, the staircase is right over there." She pointed at the stairs, which were on the right side of the large lobby to their convenience. "By taking them, you shall be directly beside the hallway that contains all of our rooms."

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver." Arata said with relief. "I mean, I could have found it myself, but I'm not about to turn down help from a classmate. As for you Tsukuda, I'll find a much more fitting outfit for you. Until then!" With that, Arata walked off towards the stairs.

Takara wanted to follow him, but she couldn't help but wonder what the Medium was thinking about all this. Even with her skepticism, she thought that someone else's take on the situation at hand would help. "So what do you think happened to us, Chiyo?" Takara asked, interested in what theory she may have. "I know that letter said that this is all done by the school, but I just find that hard to believe don't you?"

Chiyo looked away in thought, trying to come up with an answer. "I can not say myself. Are you expecting me to say that we have been whisked away by some angry spirit?" she asked, letting out a giggle. Takara began to wonder if she was on to her. "All I can say for certain is that something is dangerous about this place."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Takara asked.

"I can sense an evil force lurking here. I do not know what it means just yet, but whatever it is can not lead to anything pleasant. I urge you Ms. Tsukuda, watch yourself. Unless you want misfortune to befall you." Chiyo answered. "But I digress, for now you should enjoy yourself and introduce yourself to our other classmates. I believe that we will be here for quite some time. I shall see you later." With that, Chiyo walked away towards the revolving doors, off to explore the remainder of the resort.

Takara decided that she didn't want to think about what she meant by an evil force. At least not now. Until there was reason to believe that things were dangerous, she was going to ignore that warning. Trying to shake off the strange feeling Chiyo's words gave her, Takara moved over to the stairs. She didn't want to waste anymore time in finding her room.


	2. Prologue - A Stay For Sixteen II

Just as Chiyo had told her, the hallway which lead to the hotel rooms was only a few steps away from the stairs. Entering the hallway, Takara saw many different bags sitting in front of the doors, with card keys sitting on top of them. A few of the doors had no bags in front of them, while other doors were opened. Most likely because the owners were inside getting their bags unpacked. The strange thing about the doors though, was that there were nameplates in front of where the numbers would be. Each nameplate had a picture resembling some kind of video game sprite that looked like each student, and underneath the picture was the name of the occupant. What was the point of them though? Were they even allowed to put these here? Takara went to the end of the hall to see if any of the other rooms were like that, but not a single door had a nameplate. They all had numbers. She didn't decide to dwell on it too much, once that faculty member arrived she figured she could ask them.

From her observations, the girls rooms were all on the right side while the boys were on the left. At least that made it easier to remember. Takara walked along the right side, trying to find her room. But just before she could reach it, the door next to it slammed open and someone fell on top of her.

"What were you standing in front of the door for? Didn't you hear me shout out 'Incoming' at the top of my voice?" The person asked. Takara sat up once the person rolled off of her, and almost couldn't believe what she was looking at. Sitting beside her now was a girl with hot pink hair, which was pulled up into a ponytail with a lime green ribbon. She wore a yellow jacket that either had short sleeves or the sleeves rolled up, a long sleeved shirt with black and white stripes, a bright orange skirt, and a pair of red sandals. Around both of her wrists were colorful candy bracelets. If Arata looked at this girl for two seconds he would probably have a heart attack.

"Um, no, I didn't." Takara answered with honesty. She didn't hear anything coming from the room.

"Whaaaaaaat? How could you not hear me?!" The girl asked. "I was really really loud when I said it!" Her train of thought seemed to shift, because she began to look over the journalist with intrigue all of a sudden. "I haven't met you, have I?" she asked in innocence. How did she manage to change the subject so fast?

"No, you ran out of the recreational room before I could even talk to you." Takara said. "So you are?"

"Ku! Mi! Ko! A! Ka! Mi! Ne!" she said, pronouncing each syllable. "Put it all together and you get Kumiko Akamine!"

So this was the Super High School Level Comic Artist. Kumiko Akamine was a well known name in the comics circle, despite not being a professional mangaka. In five years she had worked on ten comics, with over half of them finished. She posted all of her material online on her own website, but she had books of her completed works selling all around Japan. There were even efforts in other countries to translate her works in over twenty languages. And there were rumors that she was working with the people who wanted to translate it into English. Whatever image Takara had of her before, it was broken upon seeing the girl before her. She didn't expect the hyper girl from before to be someone who was able to work on comics.

"So anyway, are you sure you said something before coming through the door?" Takara asked as both girls stood up.

"Absolutely! I heard my own voice and shouted with all the fire in my soul!" Kumiko said, her arms swinging from side to side.

"Then how come I didn't hear you?" Takara questioned.

"It's because the rooms seem to be soundproof, at least that's what I managed to gather." Takara and Kumiko turned their heads and saw one of the boys had left their room. All he wore was an outfit that looked like a chef's uniform. His hair also seemed pretty subdued, considering it was short and black. "Me and one of the other guys were testing to see how loud we could get without being heard in another room, but even though we were screaming we couldn't hear each other. They must be pretty well insulated for that. It's probably so that the other guests aren't disturbed by anyone being unusually loud."

"I guess that makes sense." Takara said. "It would explain why I didn't hear Miss Hyperactive before she barreled out of her room." She pointed at Kumiko, who seemed to have spaced out as she was humming to herself.

"I'm Masaru Nishioka by the way. Figure I should tell you before I forget." The boy said with a nervous laugh.

Masaru was the Super High School Level Patisserie, and he looked the part. He was known for making the best pastries and baked goods you could ever taste. Even though he came from a small town, he caused his families bakery to become famous. Everyone wanted a taste of his food. Even his melon bread was the tastiest you could ever find. While he by no means a chef or cook, the things he could make were just divine.

"Say, what does your title even mean?" Kumiko asked. "I've never heard of a patty-seer before." It was clear that she had no idea how to say the word. Takara was curious herself. She did know what he was good at, but the meaning of his title escaped her.

"It's a French word." Another female voice joined in. "It basically means 'pastry chef'. Which suits Masaru here to a T." Takara recognized this girl. It was the glasses girl who was helping her before. Her blonde hair was neatly styled into a braid. She was wearing a blue sweater vest (what was with these people and vests anyway? It seemed like everyone was wearing one) over a white blouse, a dark gray skirt, and long white stockings covered only by her shoes. She looked like she belonged in an office instead of a school. "I see you're doing better." she said, looking over at Takara.

"Yeah, I'm doing just fine now. I think I can handle things on my own for now." Takara said. "How did you know what patisserie means anyway?"

"Well considering she's the Super High School Level Translator, it would be a cinch for her!" Masaru said with a beaming smile.

"Translator?" Takara pondered "So then you must be-"

"Naomi Williams, yes. Pleasure to meet you." she said.

Naomi Williams. Now she had an interesting story. Born to a Japanese mother and a British father, she had spent most of her life in England. She was taught to speak both English and Japanese, so she was already bilingual at a young age. She soon began to learn other languages as she became older. It didn't take long before she was helping her father with his work, giving him the ability to deal with international affairs. By the time she and her mother returned to Japan, she was fluent in at least ten different languages even though she was only in middle school. She was assured to be critical in international relationships once she was out of school.

"You're Takara Tsukuda, right?" Naomi asked.

"Yep. I can see you did your research." Takara smirked.

"Of course I did." The Translator smiled. "Hope's Peak Academy is a unique school after all, and I just had to learn what I could to understand the unique students chosen to attend. That is, if that makes any sense." She nervously laughed.

"Made sense to me! I understood you crystal clearrrrrrr!" Kumiko said, making over-the-top gestures as she spoke. Was she always like this?

"Well, if you'll excuse me I'd like to check in to my room." Takara said. "I'll see you all later." She stepped over to her door, which had all her bags in front of it, picked up the card that served as her room key, and swiped it through the sensor. As she put her bags inside the room, she managed to hear Arata leave his room and scream before shutting the door. She could only assume he was reacting to Kumiko's outfit and snickered. She left her bags beside the entrance and put her key in a pocket. On the right side of the door was a small closet and a door which she assumed was her bathroom. That wasn't important to her at the moment though, she needed to get a better look at just what kind of room she would be staying in.

It was high-quality, that was for sure. It appeared that they were all receiving Western styled rooms. Resting against the right wall was a large bed, which was intended for a maximum of two people. Beside it was a nightstand that had a lamp and clock resting on top of it. The clock read 11:25 AM in green numbers. Opposite of the bed was a large flat screen TV, to the left of it was a desk while on the right was a miniature fridge. Over at the very end of the left wall was a door. She made a mental note to figure out what that was later. At the back of the room was a large sliding door with an open curtain that led to a balcony. As much as she wanted to see the view, Takara was too busy enjoying her new space. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

The only thing that confused her was how personalized her room seemed to be. Stuck to the wall were various clippings from magazines and newspapers, all of them articles she had written. There was also a picture over on the nightstand that showed Takara and her middle school newspaper club. Where did all of these come from anyway? And why were her articles on the walls? She decided to figure it out later, all good answers come to those who wait. Besides, she had more of the resort to explore, and seven more classmates to meet. She could always relax later if she wanted. She opened the door to the now empty hallway, and made her way back to the stairs.

Once she was back on the first floor, she figured she should take a look at the remaining areas inside the hotel. She looked at the sign that pointed her to the restaurant and headed in the direction it told her. The entrance wasn't hard to find, as there was a great decorated sign hanging above it. She couldn't read it though since the name was in English. Regardless, she entered. She was expecting to be greeted by a server of some kind, or even hear the sounds of people enjoying an early lunch. Yet to her surprise the place was empty and quiet. That is, aside from a banging noise. How come this place was empty though? Takara had never seen an eating establishment so devoid of people. But before she could think of any more oddities, a shout startled her.

"WHY ISN'T THIS DAMN DOOR OPENING?!" Well there was certainly someone here. Running over to where she heard the shout come from, Takara saw a girl and a boy standing in front of a door that wouldn't budge. From the looks of it, it was the entrance to the kitchen. The girl was furiously kicking at the door, angered by the fact it wasn't opening. She had short red hair and was wearing a sports uniform, Takara wanted to say that it was a football uniform, but she wasn't sure. Sports had never been her forte. The boy however, who was just wearing an old high school uniform, appeared to be scowling at the girl. Takara wondered how he could see her with locks of dark brown hair almost covering his right eye.

"Probably because you don't kick a door to open it, you idiot." The boy said with vitriol, most likely in response to the girl's previous question.

The girl stopped kicking the door and turned to the one berating her. "Well it wasn't opening when I tried to push or pull it, so I figured maybe I'd take a third option!" she rebutted. "At least I'm doing something, unlike your flat pasty butt!"

"Hey, excuse me?" Takara said. "Is something going on here?" The two people looked at her, shocked that someone was there and listening to them argue.

"Nah, not really." The girl responded. "I was just trying to get into the kitchen, thinking maybe I could actually FIND someone in this stupid place, but the door won't. Meanwhile, he's been wandering around and berating me." She pointed at the boy next to her.

"The only reason I'm even following you in the first place is because I actually want to find some authority around here!" The boy said. "I mean really, most of the rooms here are locked off, there's not a single member of hotel staff anywhere around here, and there's also the fact that we've been taken here against our will! What kind of joke is this?!"

"You're a real ray of sunshine, aren't you?" Takara said, getting a laugh out of the girl and a glare from the boy.

"Oh, I like you!" The girl said. "You and me, I think we can become good friends! The name's Ayame Ishikawa!" She then pointed over to her companion, who was trying to blow the hair out of his face. "And this walking ball of pessimism is Ryouta Hoshino."

Well, Takara was definitely right about the football uniform, because Ayame was the Super High School Level Football Player. At first, she played the game just for fun, but once she reached middle school she joined a sports club and began to play to win. No matter what position she took, she was a beast at it. Even being goalie was phenomenal, as she rarely allowed a ball to make it into the goal. She could lead any team into victory without even trying. There were some people who even believed that she should be allowed on a professional team. Though that appeared to be her plans once she finished school. She wanted to earn the position instead of have it given to her.

Then there was Ryouta Hoshino, the Super High School Level Florist. If there was anything you wanted to know about flowers, then he could tell you in a heartbeat. He was a master at flower arrangement styles, knew what every flower represented in flower language, and could breed the most dazzling flowers anyone had seen. He worked in his parents flower shop since he was a kid, and even performed deliveries for his parents when they couldn't. Unfortunately, there wasn't that much information about him that Takara could get her hands on. She had to admit, compared to the rest of their classmates Ryouta had got the short end of the stick when it came to his talent.

"Hi." Ryouta said, making it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the conversation. And here Takara thought that Miyako was the rude one.

"So you're saying that there isn't a single hotel staff member here?" Takara asked. She remembered that there was no one at the front desk, but for the whole staff to just be absent? That was strange.

"No one! I ringed the bell at the front desk about a hundred times too, but no one answered!" Ayame said. "I tried to see if maybe there was someone at the pool, but the locker rooms are locked and that's the only way into the pool!"

"It's not just the staff who are missing." Ryouta added. "Aside from us, there doesn't seem to be a single person staying at this hotel!"

"No one?" Takara questioned. No hotel patrons at all? "Why would the school take us to resort without a single person here?"

"Hell if I know." Ayame said. "That's what I'm trying to figure out! There's also the fact that we can't even look around the whole place!"

"She's right. There are pathways outside that supposedly lead to other areas of the resort, but only one of them is open!" Ryouta explained. "What kind of vacation is this supposed to be, anyway?!"

"And there's cameras all over the place!" Ayame said. "Even our rooms have them! Plus there's these weird monitors all over the place. What are those supposed to be for?"

"Hopefully that faculty member from the school will show up soon." Takara said. "Maybe then we'll get some answers."

"I hope so, because I have a number of complaints!" Ryouta said.

"Well until then, I'm gonna keep looking for somebody who can tell us what's going on." Ayame said. "We haven't taken a look at wherever that one open path goes, so maybe there's someone there."

"I guess I can go check, it seems like there isn't anywhere else for me to go around here anyway." Takara said. "I'll come let you know if I find something."

"Whatever. Just go already. All you're doing is wasting time here." Ryouta said.

"You know, if you keep acting like that then no one's gonna like you." Ayame said.

"You say that as if I care." Ryouta said.

Realizing there was no point to stick around here, Takara made her way towards the restaurant exit. As she approached the door, she noticed that there was a monitor hanging on the wall just like Ayame said. It seemed out of place for the hotel to have something like that, but everything about this trip so far seemed strange. The only thing she could do at this point was go outside and see what lied beyond the hotel.


	3. Prologue - A Stay For Sixteen III

Outside the hotel, Takara felt a drastic change in temperature. She didn't expect it to be so hot, but she realized that there was probably air conditioning inside that kept things nice and cool. She would most likely get used to the heat in a moment. Before heading out to explore, she looked back to see the exterior of the building she had awakened in. It looked like your standard hotel. There were five, no six, floors in total. In front of the building was a sign that read "Paradise Hotel". She hadn't heard that name before, then again it could be a fairly recent hotel. She had so many questions, but no one who could answer them.

Standing in front of her were four different pathways. One went straight ahead, one went slightly to the left, one went all the way to the right, and the last one went all the way to the left. All of them were surrounded by foliage, though it seemed to be only trees for the most part. Though strangely she thought she saw palm trees among them. Wasn't this supposed to be a mountainside resort? What were palm trees doing here of all places? Only one of the paths was open, but she had no idea which one. She began to wish Ayame or Ryouta was there to direct her in the right path, or at least told her which path was open. Though luck appeared to be on her side at that moment, as someone was jogging up the middle path.

It was one of the boys. He was wearing a tank top and a pair of white shorts. His sneakers looked filthy, but that was probably due to the fact that there was dirt everywhere you stepped. He appeared to have been jogging for a while now, as he stopped next to the journalist to catch his breath. Strands of his dark gray hair fell in front of his face, but he didn't seem concerned about it. "Um, are you alright there?" Takara asked. "You look exhausted."

"Oh, this is nothing!" The boy said, almost in a braging manner. He was clearly lying though since he had to breathe in-between words. "Back home I've ran for probably three miles in one go, or something along those lines. This is just a warm-up! I figured that I should get some exercise while I was out here. Just because I'm on a vacation doesn't mean I'm about to slack off!"

"Don't go overboard though, you crazy person, you're clearly tired!" Takara said. Was this guy dense or something?

"Hey, no pain no gain as I always say." The boy said through his breaths. "I like a challenge. If you think that I, Hikaru Nagai, am a crazy person, you obviously haven't seen what some people will do for their sport." He let out a laugh, though he couldn't do it for too long.

Hikaru Nagai, Super High School Level Track Runner. He was one of the fastest people on foot you could find. He had broken so many track and running records, it just seemed impossible. He could win almost any race without barely breaking a sweat. He was so good, he had the possibility to represent Japan in the next Olympics. The only other notable thing about him was his fans. Takara wasn't sure why, but he had a large number of teenage girls swooning over him. They would go to every one of his track meets, even if they didn't attend the same school as him! Takara couldn't believe the large amount of fan sites he managed to accumulate, or how crazy all those girls were for him. Why would anyone waste their time on the internet gushing about some famous boy they had never met, and get offended when someone didn't think they were so great? That was just the stupidest thing she had ever seen. Sure, Hikaru was good looking there was no denying that, but it's not like he was anyone Takara would swoon over.

"If you say so, I'm not about to stop you." Takara said with a sigh. "Say, could you tell me which one of these paths are open? I want to look around the place but I don't know where to go."

"Oh that's easy, you just take the middle path right there." Hikaru said as he pointed his finger to the path he had just came from. "After a while you'll see buildings and some other stuff. I think there are still a few or our classmates down there, so you can ask them if there's anything worthwhile."

"You mean you didn't see for yourself?" Takara asked.

"Nah, I just wanted a quick look of the area." Hikaru said, his breaths becoming less frequent and heavy. "I'm sure you'll find something interesting down there. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm gonna go inside now. I need to go to my room for a second." He walked over to the revolving door and headed inside.

"iThis/i is the guy people have dedicated entire forums and blogs to?" Takara said, trying not to laugh. "Some people have low standards I guess." She looked back to the paths ahead, walking straight for the middle one.

There wasn't much to see on her way there, just a whole lot of trees. Before long, the dirt path became stone, indicating that she was almost there. The trees began to get sparse before she found buildings, just as Hikaru had told her. It looked like she had found herself in some strange shopping district. There was a convenience store, a place to buy clothing, even tacky looking souvenir shops. Takara began to question the quality of the resort. The hotel was nice, even if areas were closed off, but this all looked like nothing more but a tourist trap. As she walked by, her eyes managed to catch the interest of a different type of building.

The sign above the door read something in English (she was starting to regret not learning it). Curious, she walked inside the building to see what was there. The entire place had washing machines and dryers lined up against the walls. There were also some sitting in the middle of the room. Was this a coin-laundry or something? It sure seemed like it. The only other thing of real interest was the girl in the room.

She had long and wavy dark-brown hair, that Takara almost mistook for black hair. She wore a high school uniform that was red and black. Around her neck was a magenta scarf that appeared to match the color of her eyes. She also wore a pair of brown boots. Takara recognized her, this was the girl who had noticed the letter earlier. There was something else about her that felt familiar though, but she couldn't figure out what it was. The girl seemed to notice her, as she walked over with a smile. "Hi! I see you came to check out the laundromat, huh?" she said.

"Laundromat?" Takara asked. "But this is a coin-laundry isn't it?"

"Well the sign outside said 'laundromat' so while it looks like a coin-laundry I guess that's not what you call it." The girl said, almost as confused as Takara was. "Maybe Naomi would be able to explain it."

"Okay, so what exactly is this place then?" Takara asked. "Is it the same thing as a coin-laundry or not?"

"Well, I just got here myself, so I can't say for sure." The girl said. "But from what I've gathered, it is like one. The only differences are that the coin inserts appear to be locked in place, and you can either hang your laundry in here or use the dryers."

"But if they're locked, then how are you supposed to do your laundry?" Takara asked, getting more confused by the second.

The girl shrugged. "I have no idea. Though it wouldn't matter since we don't appear to have money on us anyway. And if we could insert money, who knows if it even would accept yen? Because I don't think we're anywhere in Japan right now."

"Wait what." Takara said in a flat tone of voice. Not in Japan? How was that possible? "What do mean we're not in Japan?"

"Well it's just a guess, nothing certain." The girl said, trying to calm Takara. "The only other guess I have is that this resort is also meant for people outside of Japan."

"Why do you say that?" Takara asked, feeling a bit more relaxed.

"Well there's a lot of English aside from Japanese on the signs around here." The girl explained. "Not to mention that everything has a Western feel to it. The hotel rooms, the bathrooms in our rooms, even this laundromat has some Western elements. It's all just a guess though, so I might be wrong in both cases."

"Dang, you've thought about this a lot haven't you?" Takara said.

"Oh no, no, no. Like I said, it's just guesses and nothing more. I don't even have much proof to back me up on this. I just took notice of the details I could make out." The girl insisted. "This kind of stuff isn't exactly my forte."

"While we're at it, what is your forte anyway?" Takara asked. "You haven't introduced yourself to me."

"I didn't? Damn! I was so lost in thought, I must have forgotten!" The girl said, a bit freaked out that she forgot about it. "Anyway, I'm Shizuka Matsuki! And I'm the Super High School Level Painter! It's a pleasure to meet you!" She bowed out of politeness, realizing she never did that either.

Ohhh, that's what was familiar about her. She was another person that didn't require much research, what with being the biggest thing in the art world. Many people would consider Shizuka a painting prodigy. She began when she was only five years old, and she's been painting ever since. No one was sure just what it was about her artwork that was so captivating. Some thought it was the combinations of color, others thought it was the images of the paintings themselves. She had earned thousands of yen from commissions and selling her artwork to museums. She even held a number of art exhibitions showcasing her latest work. No one knew just what she was like deep down, as she rarely accepted interviews or spoke during her events. The real Shizuka was a mystery to everyone. There wasn't even a way to tell if the happy-go lucky girl she appeared to be was the real her or not.

"I really am sorry about forgetting to introduce myself!" Shizuka said. "First impressions are the most important and I would hate to come off as someone rude and forgetful!" She seemed worried about all this.

"Hey, relax. I'm not mad or anything." Takara said. Now she was trying to reassure the painter. "Mistakes happen, you know? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Alright, if you say so." Shizuka said. "I guess I won't worry about it if it's not a big deal."

"So is there anything else interesting around here?" Takara asked. "Or is it just these strange shops?"

"No, there's two other areas of interest." Shizuka said. "There's a botanical garden two buildings down, a library of some kind past that, and what appears to be a dock at the end of the path."

"A dock?" Takara said. "Are there any boats there?"

Shizuka shook her head. "No, not a single one. Though maybe that's how our chaperone is going to get here? I can't think of any other way." she said as she played with her scarf.

"I guess." Takara said. "Well, all the better reason to look around the rest of the place. See you later."

"Oh, okay! Later!" Shizuka said, waving good bye as Takara walked back outside.

A garden, a library, and a dock. Those were the only three areas left that seemed interesting. The dock was empty though, so there was no point going there. The botanical garden was close by though, so she decided to stop there first. Just like the painter had said, she only had to pass by two buildings before finding the entrance. It was a stone arch covered in vines with the word "Botanical Gardens" written on top of it.

Stepping inside, Takara found herself in an amazing world that seemed like it was from a dream. Everywhere she looked there were gorgeous plants of all varieties. Trees, flowers, trimmed hedges, it was all there. Maybe this place wasn't so bad after all, even if it had some stupid stores. This garden felt so serene, so peaceful.

"My, my, my. I didn't expect to find such a lovely flower like yourself here." Well that didn't last very long. Takara turned to find a boy standing a few feet away, attempting to look smooth. He combed his platinum blond hair back as he smirked at the journalist. His other hand was resting in the pocket of his dark purple pants. He attempted to straighten up his black uniform jacket before walking closer to her. Was this guy for real? "This garden is now ten times as beautiful with you heEYAH!" He tripped on a shoelace and fell face first into the ground. Takara couldn't help but let out a bit of laughter at the predicament. She knew it wasn't funny, after all he could be badly injured, but she couldn't help herself.

"Need a little help there, Casanova?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm in her last word. She heard a muffled "Yes please.", and pulled the guy up by the arms.

"Aw shit, and I was trying to be all suave too." The boy said, thankfully with no damage to his face. "I thought I had you too."

"Sorry Casanova, but you're gonna need to try harder then that." Takara said. She looked down at his shoes. "Not to mention make sure your shoes are tied correctly.

"My name isn't 'Casanova', if you don't mind!" The boy said with a huff.

"Well I don't know your name, so you're gonna be called that until you tell me who you are." Takara informed him. This was too much fun.

"Well then listen up carefully, because I'm only going to say this once!" The boy said with pride. "I am the one and only Kaito Fujiwara! The greatest thing to happen to the animation world since computer graphics!"

Oh geez, she didn't imagine he would be this pathetic. Though to be fair, he wasn't joking about animation since that's what his talent was. Kaito Fujiwara, Super High School Level Animator, was one of the most influential people in the animation industry. He knew every type of animation there was, and could create something using any one of them. His work was always stunning and detailed no matter what he was working on. He had done everything from small effects in anime, to making award winning short films. He even worked on animated films of larger scale. He also had the tendency to make the claim that he was working for a big animation studio in America, but which one it was would always differ every time he told it. Takara had only seen one of his short films, but she had to admit that he was deserving of his title. His work was one of the reasons many people said animation was a form of art.

"I'm telling you, one day my name will go down in history with all the other animation legends! I'll be just as famous as Walt Disney, Hayao Miyazaki, and Osamu Tezuka!"

"But didn't Osamu Tezuka make more contributions to manga than animation?" Takara asked, hoping to take him down a peg.

"Well, I mean, that is!" Kaito began, attempting to think of how he could fight back her claim. "He did a lot of work in the field of anime too I'll have you know! Without him, it wouldn't have such a widespread audience like it does today!" He wasn't good at debating, was he?

"Sure, whatever you say." Takara said. "So have you seen anyone around here aside from our group? Ayame and Ryouta said they couldn't find any staff in the hotel and were hoping someone could be down here."

"I'm afraid I haven't seen anyone else. I've gone into some of the stores to see if there was anything good, but there's no one working there! Not even the convenience store has anyone there!" Kaito said.

"Seriously? No one here, either?" Takara said. Why was this place completely deserted? Where did everyone else go?

"Well, there might be someone in that library or whatever." Kaito said. "I'm not much of a book person, so I didn't bother going over there, but I know I saw a few of our classmates go in. Guess you could try there."

"Is there anything else of interest in this garden?" Takara asked, she wanted to be absolutely certain that she wasn't missing anything.

"Well, there's some kind of playground further back, guess it's for kids or something, but otherwise there's nothing aside from a tool shed. There's really not much else to do here besides enjoy the nature." Kaito explained.

"Well in that case, I should get going." Takara said. She began to walk back the way she came, thoughts racing in her head.

"Wait!" Kaito called out. Takara stopped and looked back at the animator. "If it's not any trouble, do you think you could keep that whole falling on my face thing a secret? I don't want the other girls thinking I'm a loser."

"Don't worry, I'm not about to tell anyone something like that." Takara said reassuringly. "It's like it never even happened." Kaito let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks. I won't try to flirt like that with you as a show of my gratitude!" he said as the journalist rolled her eyes and walked away. Some of these students were just strange.

Finding herself back at the stone path, Takara tried to remember what Shizuka had told her about where the library was. In the distance, she could see a building that looked like just what she was looking for. As she made her way over, she hoped that those students Kaito had mentioned were still there. She was beginning to think this whole place was a ghost town.

Approaching the building, she didn't even need a sign to tell her this was the library. It seemed a bit fancy, but there were stranger things going on here then the way a building looked. She went up the small set of stairs and opened the doors, expecting this to be the one space that would be quiet. But the loud shouting proved her wrong, as it seemed to echo throughout the whole building. She couldn't even find the source from listening alone. The only thing she could do was walk around until she found them. At least this gave her a chance to look around and see what kind of books there were. What interested her the most was that she found titles written in other languages. She couldn't understand what they said, but she managed to recognize English, French, German, and Spanish. There were Japanese books of course, but to see so many different languages in one place was incredible. It helped support Shizuka's theory that this place was not a typical Japanese resort. She made a mental note to tell Naomi about this place later.

The shouts began to grow louder as Takara found herself going up to the second floor. She only needed to pass a few bookshelves before she finally found the source of it. A girl was angrily shouting at a boy standing next to her, while the boy just seemed to be irritated as he shouted back. Having no clue what she had just walked into, and due to the fact that they were both shouting over each other, Takara had no idea what they were talking about. It was only when the girl raised a fist did she decide to intervene. She ran in-between the two of them and began to push them away from each other. "Hey, hey, hey, break it up you two! That's enough!" Takara said. "What the hell is going on here?"

"It's his fuckin' fault!" The girl claimed, speaking at a loud volume and pointing her finger at the boy. "If he had jus' been mindin' his own fuckin' business den maybe I wouldn' have tried ta punch his lights out!" She spoke like a punk, and her appearance seemed to fit with that image. She had green hair that went just past her shoulders. Her blouse was put on in a rather sloppy manner, as one side was sticking out of her skirt and her sleeves were rolled up. There wasn't a way of telling how the buttons had been done up, as they were covered by a striped green and black tie. Her skirt seemed to match said tie, the only difference being that it had a plaid pattern. Her socks were uneven, one of them being scrunched down up the edge of her white and red sneakers. It didn't help that she was also pretty tall.

The boy let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't recall starting anything." he said. "In fact, I'm certain that it was _you_ who threatened to throw violence towards me." His appearance practically mirrored that of the girl's, as where she clearly didn't care if she looked sloppy, his appearance was nothing but tidy. His dark blue hair had been neatly combed back. Over his white school uniform shirt, which was neatly tucked into a pair of yellow pants, he wore a fancy black waistcoat (if she saw one more person here wearing a vest or waistcoat she was going to kill them) that looked too formal for this setting. His hands were covered by white gloves, and he wore a set of boots that almost appeared to look gold. If only his demeanor was as pleasant as his clothing choice.

The girl appeared to have been pissed off by his comment, as her toothy scowl said all that it needed to. "Ya mothafucker, I'm 'bout ready ta really kick yer ass!" she said.

"No, no, that isn't necessary!" Takara insisted, trying to hold back the tall girl. "What are you two even mad about in the first place?"

"I jus' want dis fuckin' snob ta leave me ta my own damn business!" The girl said. "Jus' 'cause he's some fancy ass don' mean he can criticize da way I do shit!"

"You truly are a broken record, aren't you?" The boy retorted with a smirk. Great, he was doing this on purpose.

"You know what, I don't care why you two are fighting or who started it, but it's ending now." Takara said, letting go of the girl. "You both have better things to do than throwing insults and making each other mad."

"And here I was beginning to think that no one here had any sensibility." The boy said. Wow, this guy was a prick. It was starting to become clear why the argument began in the first place.

"I'm talking about you too, you know." Takara pointed out.

"Oh, I'm quite aware of that." he responded. Was he trying to be an ass on purpose, or was he just unaware of how rude he sounded? "I was getting tired of it anyway. I should probably be going." He turned to begin walking away.

"You're not even going to introduce yourself?" Takara said, holding back a comment on how pompous he was being.

"I'm sorry, I thought that someone like you would have already known who I am. But I guess I set my standards too high." he said. "But if you must know, I am Shigeru Kitagawa."

This was the Super High School Level Composer? Sure the appearance fit, but his demeanor sure didn't. Shigeru Kitagawa was one of the few people in the world appreciated for creating orchestra and solo pieces. Many thought of him as the Japanese Mozart or Beethoven. While he mostly dedicated himself to creating works meant to be performed in a concert hall, he had created at least one or two soundtracks for an entire movie on his own. He also was known for playing the piano and violin, and every once in a while he would perform his work along with an orchestra. His CDs had sale numbers in the millions worldwide. With a talent like that, it was obvious to see why he had been accepted to Hope's Peak Academy.

"Now if that's all you need from me, I'll be on my way. So long, ladies." Shigeru said as he walked away. At least he had some manner of respect, even if it was feigned.

"God I wanna kick him so fuckin' much." The girl said. Takara wouldn't admit it, but she almost wished that she would. "At least he's finally gone. Don' think I can stand 'im."

"Your dialect, is it Osakan?" Takara asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Fuck yeah it is! West Osaka, born an' raised!" The girl said with a grin.

"Thought so, it sounded like Osakan dialect to me." Takara said. "So who are you? I don't think I've caught your name yet."

"Yer lookin' at da one an' only Kazumi Katsuya!" she said. "An' before ya ask, I don' do fuckin' autographs."

Anyone in the entertainment industry would recognize that name. Kazumi Katsuya was the Super High School Level Vocalist after all. No one knew where she came from, she just appeared one day and took the music world by storm. Her punk rock style garnered a lot of fans. You couldn't even turn on the radio without hearing one of her songs playing, or at least that was how it seemed. Her music was so popular that it had top sales off the charts. For weeks her top single "Fourth To Finish" was the number one song in Japan. Her concerts always managed to be sold out of tickets in just a few days. And it wasn't just Japan that loved her, people all over the world loved her work. She was especially popular in America, which was a bit strange for a Japanese rock artist but it showed how far her influence was spread. There were even rumors spreading that she was going to perform a tour in America, but she refused to confirm or deny it. But then again, she rarely told the press anything about what she was planning. It never stopped them from trying. Takara even thought that this could be her chance to figure things out about her that no other reporter or journalist had.

"So how 'bout you? What's yer big deal or whateva'?" Kazumi asked. "I'm havin' a hard time figurin' ya out."

"Oh, well you see I'm-" Before Takara could say anything more, the sound of a monitor turning on distracted both of their attention. The two walked over next to the staircase to see that the monitor (or at least one of the ones in the library) was indeed on and showing static. Among the static was a black figure with no discernible features.

"Ah, ah, can everyone here me loud and clear? Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3!" A childish-sounding voice came out of the speakers. "Is this thing on? Ah, yes, there we go! Ahem, attention all Hope's Peak Academy students! Please make your way to the hotel lobby immediately! Anyone who is not at the front desk in ten minutes will be punished, and I'm certain you don't want to start off this special vacation like that, now would you?" There's a sinister tone in those last few words that seems to stick as the screen turns blank. What was that about punishment?

"Aw man, I guess that stupid teacher or whatever finally showed up." Kazumi said, slightly annoyed. "Normally I'd say fuck that shit and keep looking around, but I don' wanna get in trouble with the school before my classes have even started. Don' know what you're gonna do, but I'm outta here. Later!" With that, she jumped onto the railway and began sliding down the stairs.

Takara was a bit worried about that punishment comment, so there was no way she was sticking around to find out what it meant. She rushed down the stairs as well and ran out the doors. Without hesitation, she began to run as fast as she could back to the hotel. Her instincts were telling her that something was about to go down, and unfortunately for Takara, her instincts were usually right. She had no time to waste. Even though she saw some of her classmates running as well, she had no time to stop and chat with them. Getting back was her biggest priority.

Before she knew it, Takara found herself in front of Paradise Hotel. She was covered in sweat and out of breath, but she could rest once she made it inside. Making it through the spinning door, she fell to her knees in the lobby. She made a note to herself that she would never run that fast again. "You need some help there?" She looked up to see Hikaru holding a hand out to her. She didn't say a word, but grabbed hold of it as he pulled her up and allowed her to rest against him. She didn't realize it before, but the track runner had a lot of muscle on him. "And you say I'm the crazy one?" he said with a smirk. Takara didn't say a anything, she was too out of breath to comment. "Sorry, that was too much wasn't it? I couldn't help myself though. Just hang in there and you'll get your strength back momentarily."

Takara looked over at the other students, noticing them talk among one another. She hoped that Satoshi wouldn't notice her right now, the last thing she wanted was someone like him bugging her. Two people were still missing, but there was still some time left so she wasn't too worried. She began to feel some energy return to her so she asked, "What do you think this is gonna be all about anyway?"

Hikaru thought for a moment before answering. "Well, it's probably the standard procedure or something." he said. "They're just going to be told what we can and can't do and be given all the guidelines. Stuff like that."

"But what about that punishment thing?" Takara asked, trying to steady her breathing.

"Oh I doubt it's that serious. It bet it's just something like cleaning the restaurant kitchen, you know." Hikaru said. "Why, you nervous about it or something?"

"I just feel like it's more serious than that." Takara said.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhh! Get away from me, you stupid pervert!" Everyone's head seemed to turn when Kumiko's voice came trailing down the lobby. She was running as if she was being chased by some serial killer. Behind her was a frantic looking Arata, confused about why she was afraid of him.

"I told you, that wasn't what I meant! I'm not even following you, I'm just trying to get down here the same as you are!" Arata insisted. What the hell happened between those two?

"You're nothing but a super duper creep! Leave me alone!" Kumiko said as she took shelter behind Chiyo of all people. "Help me Chi-Chi, this pervert won't go away!" Did Kumiko have a connection to her or something?

"Oh come on Ueda, I didn't do anything to her! You have to believe me!" Arata said.

"Whatever may have happened between you and my best friend does not matter to me right now." Chiyo said. "However, I would prefer it if you would respect her wishes, Mr. Miyazaki, and left her alone."

"But I'm not a pervert I tell you! I would never!" Arata said.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure this is a lost cause." Kaito told the designer. "Just let it go before the spooky ghost girl here sends spirits to haunt you in your sleep."

"Why did this have to happen to me?" Arata said dejectedly as he walked away.

"I didn't know Chiyo and Kumiko were best friends." Takara said, letting go of Hikaru. She figured she was in a good enough shape to stand by herself.

"Oh yeah, turns out they knew each other long before they were accepted or whatever." Ayame said as she came closer to the two of them. "I don't know the exact details though. I'll have to ask them about it later."

"Well, looks like we've got everybody here!" The voice they all heard before shouted from nowhere.

"Um, where did that voice come from?" Shizuka asked, unable to see whoever spoke to them.

"I'm not sure." Miyako stated bluntly.

"Don't you kiddies worry, the answers to all your questions and more will soon be answered." The voice spoke again.

"Maybe it's jus' me, but I think it's comin' from da reception desk." Kazumi said.

"No, your ears are working. I can hear it from there too." Shigeru said, surprisingly being polite for once.

"Well you two certainly have good hearing! But what else is to be expected from the Vocalist and the Composer?" The voice replied.

"Why are you hiding like this? S-show yourself at once!" Ryouta demanded, paranoia in his voice.

"Now that's no way to speak to your headmaster!" The voice said, getting slightly angry. "But if you bastards are that insistent on seeing my face, then I just can't say no to that." Wait, did it say headmaster? Before there was any time to speak, something popped out from behind the front desk and landed on top of it. Sitting there was what looked like a strange stuffed bear. One side of it was completely white, while the other side was completely black. It's left eye was in an unusual shape and glowed red. No one knew how to react. This wasn't serious was it?

Takara could only say one thing. "...What."


	4. Prologue - A Stay For Sixteen IV

"Is that...a stuffed bear? Or am I just seeing things?" Minoru asked.

"How rude! I'm no stuffed toy! I am Monokuma, and I am this school's headmaster!" The bear said. But how could that be? The note said that someone else was the headmaster, didn't it? And even so, how could _this thing_ be in charge of the school?

"Wooooaaaaaahh! It can talk! How can you do that?" Kumiko said, unstartled by the fact that this Monokuma was alive. "Is there a speaker in you or something?" She ran up to the desk and curiously began poking him. "Ooooo! Or maybe you're a sentient toy revealing the secret that toys are alive to the world? Tell me, tell me, tell meeeeeeee!"

"Hey, cut that out!" Monokuma said, swatting his arm at Kumiko's hand. "I already told you I'm not a toy! I'm the headmaster, and you bastards better treat me with some respect!"

"I highly doubt that the school would send someone like you to be our chaperone." Naomi said as Kumiko backed away from Monokuma. "Just what qualifications do you have to run Hope's Peak in the first place?"

"Ah, you see, I came here because your original chaperone has, well, found themselves in an accident!" Monokuma said with glee. The fact that he seemed happy about it was unsettling. "So here I am to make sure you all follow the rules like good little students! We wouldn't want you doing anything E-rated after all. This is supposed to be a T-rated experience!" What on earth was he talking about?

"Yeah right, like you're really supposed to do that." Takara heard Ayame whisper.

"But enough stalling! I gathered you all here because there's been a change in plans considering your vacation." Monokuma announced, ignoring Naomi's second question.

"And just what would this change of plans be?" Satoshi asked, still acting relaxed.

"I'm glad you asked, Teruya!" Monokuma said. "You see, a peaceful vacation in paradise just doesn't cut it! Where's the excitement in it! I tell ya, no one wants to read something boring like that! So as of this moment, you are to stay here at this mountain resort for an indefinite period of time!"

"What da fuck do ya mean by 'indefinite'?" Kazumi asked, scratching her head.

"Honestly, you kids these days just continue to let me down. Some beacons of hope you turned out to be." Monokuma said. "To put it simply, you bastards are staying here forever and will not be allowed to leave!" He laughed as everyone became shocked, even Satoshi and Shigeru were unsettled by this news.

"What?! You can't be serious!" Kaito said frantically.

"Oh but I am, Fujiwara. I'm beary serious!" Monokuma said. "Kids these days are always complaining about how their summer vacations just fly by in a month, even though you're lucky to get a break in the first place! I'm giving you an infinite vacation, you should be happy that I'm being so nice!"

"Please tell me he didn't just say 'beary serious'." Arata said.

"He didn't say it." Miyako said, still coming off as stoic. How was she not reacting to this news? They were trapped here and she had no reaction to that? What could get to this girl?!

"He didn't mean that literally, Miyako." Masaru said.

"I don't see why you kids are so shocked, I would think you'd like it here!" Monokuma said, jumping off of the desk and walking towards them. "After all, the outside world is full of nothing but dishonesty and backstabbing. You're meant to be the embodiments of hope itself! We just can't let you be exposed to such an unforgiving world! I should also mention that from this moment on, you're completely isolated from the outside world. There's no way out of this place and no one you can communicate with."

"I don' think so, teddy bear." Kazumi said with a smirk. "Ya forgot 'bout our cell phones! We can jus' call da police or our parents with dese babies!"

"Well, you seem quite certain of yourself don't you, Katsuya?" Monokuma asked. "In that case, why don't you show me this cell phone of yours?"

"Fuckin' gladly!" Kazumi said, reaching into her pocket. "I got it right he-" She stopped and looked at her pocket. She began to pat it with her hands, getting worried that she was unable to find anything. "Where da fuck did my phone go?!"

"Upupupu, you see? It isn't that easy!" Monokuma said. "All of your phones have been confiscated for the purpose of your vacation, so don't get any ideas that you can use them to escape!" Upon hearing that, everyone instantly began checking their pockets in search for their phones. Takara took off the backpack and rummaged through to find any sign of her phone, but there was no luck. It was really gone. And from the looks on everyone's faces, no one else could find theirs.

"W-why would you confiscate our phones though? We haven't even done anything!" Ryouta said.

"It's not like they would do you any good. This entire resort is a dead zone for phones in the first place! If anything, I saved you the trouble of dealing with useless phones!" Monokuma said. "You should all be thanking me!

"This isn't fair! I wanna go home!" Kumiko said, tears in her eyes.

"I already told you, I can't allow you to leave! Where's the fun in that after all? But, if you truly want to leave that badly, then there is one way I could work around it." Monokuma said.

"You mean that right?" Takara asked, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "There's actually a way for us to get out of here? You're not just telling us that?" She knew better than to trust him word for word, in fact she expected him to say he was just kidding, but something was better than nothing.

"I would never do such a thing like that! I'm a bear of my word who always tells the truth. If I say you can leave, then there's a way you can leave!" Monokuma answered.

"Then quit saying that and just tell us what we have to do!" Shigeru said. He was getting very irritated by this stupid bear and his antics. "You're trying my patience!"

"So impatient, Kitagawa. I haven't even had the chance to tell you!" Monokuma said, getting a bit angry himself. "It's incredibly simple really. As your gracious headmaster, I've set up a nifty little something I like to call: the Graduation Clause!"

"Graduation Clause?" Masaru asked. "How does graduation work?"

"Well, as students of Hope's Peak Academy you are all bound to stick by a set of rules." Monokuma explained. "These rules allow you to live out your communal resort life in peace and order. However, if someone breaks that order and gets away with it, then that student will be allowed to leave!"

"What exactly do you mean by 'breaking order and getting away with it' anyway?" Takara asked. "That seems pretty vague."

"Must I simplify everything for you brats?" Monokuma said. "What I'm saying is that to leave this resort, you must murder one of your fellow students and not get caught!" What? He can't be serious, can he? Why would he want them to murder each other? All the students got visibly nervous or shocked. The expressions on their faces said everything. "You can use any method you like. Beating, stabbing, drowning, poisoning, clubbing, shooting, impaling, whatever your twisted little minds come up with! It's all fair game in this Vacation of Mutual Killing!"

"You're not serious, are you?" Shizuka asked, visibly shaking. "You don't really want us to try and kill each other, do you?"

"What part of 'murder your fellow students' did you not understand?" Monokuma said. "For Super High School Level Students, you sure require a lot of explanations."

"Forget it, you stupid bear! We're not going to kill anyone no matter what you say!" Hikaru exclaimed. Yeah, there didn't need to be any killing. Sure, they didn't exactly know each other very well, but to murder someone would leave a huge weight on one's shoulders.

"Oh, I think you're mistaken." Monokuma said. "I'm not ordering you to kill anyone. Whether you decide to do it or not is up to you! But if you ask me, I think it's gonna happen whether I tell you to or not!"

"I have a question, Mr. Monokuma." Chiyo spoke, looking a bit unsettled. "Let us say that one of us does decide they wish to leave and kills someone. You mentioned that a person could only leave if they murdered a classmate and was able to hide their crime. If they are unsuccessful in keeping their act a secret, what would happen to the culprit?"

"My, my! How polite you are, Ueda. I don't think I've ever heard someone call me 'Mr. Monokuma' before! Such words give me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside!" Monokuma said, flattered by the medium's comment as his cheeks went pink. "I'd be happy to answer that for you! If one of you bastards can't cover up your crime, then the culprit will be punished accordingly! They did disturb the peace after all, we just can't let them get away with that once they've been caught."

"Just what is this 'punishment' thing you keep talking about anyway?" Ayame asked. "Do we have to like, clean around the resort or something?"

"Oh no, no, no, it's nothing like that." Monokuma answered. "No, what I have in store is much more exciting! Since you need things to be explained slowly and clearly, I'm not going to beat around the bush. It means you'll be executed!"

Everyone fell silent. He couldn't be serious about all this, there was no way!

"Oh, I almost forgot! If the culprit manages to get away with murder, then the rest of you will be punished instead! Isn't that wonderful?" Monokuma added.

"Whaaaaat?!" Kaito yelled.

"The spectacular 'Punishment Time' is sure to be the highlight of your vacation life! Upupu, I wonder what kind of heart-thumping punishments we'll get to see!"

"What da fuck, man?! Dis ain't fair at all!" Kazumi said. "Dis has ta be a fuckin' joke!"

"A joke? What, like your hair color?" Monokuma asked, pointing at the vocalist's green hair. "Or perhaps you mean like Akamine's getup? If you ask me, they're both a complete joke!"

"Quit fuckin' with me ya little shit!" Kazumi shouted, her hand quickly turning into a fist.

"But you make it so easy!" Monokuma stated. "Plus it's funny to see you get mad! But I swear, none of this is a joke. It's all real."

"Just how are we supposed to figure out the culprit in the first place?" Shigeru said, his usually condescending tone replaced with one of mild fear. Not even someone like him can handle the news that they're trapped and forced to kill so they can leave. "We're not trained for this kind of scenario!"

"Oh that will all come in due time, Kitagawa, I assure you!" Monokuma said. "I gotta leave some things as a surprise, you know? It wouldn't be fun if I spoiled everything for you at the ver beginning!"

"You say that as if we really are going to start killing." Satoshi said, picking up on Monokuma's assumption.

"Oh, believe me. It'll happen eventually!" Monokuma said with glee. "Kids like you always succumb to this kind of despair. It may only take a day, or it could take ten years, but someone will get the itch to kill!"

"Not if we get rid of ya here and now!" Kazumi said. "Yer nothin' but a fuckin' little bear! I'm sure we're enough ta take ya on!"

"Oh, count me in on that action, Kazumi." Ayame said with a smirk. "I'd just love to kick this shithead's face in."

"You would dare to threaten your own headmaster with senseless violence?" Monokuma asked, his head held down in disappointment. "I have to warn you, I'm not as helpless as you think I am. I'm prepared for this kind of disobedience, and I won't hesitate to fight back!"

"Oh yeah? Yer talkin' all big but ya ain't budgin'." Kazumi said, picking up the monochrome bear. "Sounds ta me like an empty threat!"

"Violence towards the headmaster is against the rules, I'll have you know!" Monokuma said, flailing his arms up and down in her grasp. "But I guess the only way to get it into your thick head is to make an example out of you." He began to make slow beeping sounds as his red eye blinked over and over.

"What da fuck is he doin' now?" Kazumi asked, shaking the bear with her hand. The beeping began to speed up. "Stop it with da fuckin' beepin'! It's annoyin' as shit!" She threw the bear to the floor and tried stomping on him to make him stop.

Takara began to dawn on a realization. He had turned himself into a bomb and was going to kill her right there. "Kazumi, throw him away, now! Just do it!" Kazumi was confused, but ultimately did as she was told. She kicked the bear away from the group standing by the front desk and into the larger part of the lobby. The beeping kept getting faster and faster until...

KABOOM

Monokuma exploded, leaving a singe mark on the carpet and a small cloud of smoke. "I guess he wasn't kidding about not being helpless." Naomi said as she pushed her glasses up her face.

"Well, least he went an' blew 'imself up." Kazumi said. "Now we don' gotta deal with 'im no more."

"Did you really think it was that easy?" Monokuma's voice asked. Everyone turned around and saw a new Monokuma had spawned on the desk. "I have plenty of backups that are spread around the whole resort, so the fun won't end so soon!"

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaah! He's back for more! And he's not even a ghost!" Kumiko cried.

"I suppose I'll let you off with a warning this time, Katsuya." Monokuma said. "But next time you try a stupid stunt like that, you'll be a roasted vocalist! Hm, wonder how that'd taste..."

"This isn't happening! This can't be happening!" Ryouta said, shaking his head in his hands. "This is all just a dream I'm having! I'll wake up and be back at home or the school! There's no possible way this is happening!"

"Honestly, you'd think by now that you would all accept the fact that this is your home." Monokuma sighed. "Acceptance is one of the five stages of grief you know, and it's about time you reached it."

"I don't think we've gone through the other four yet though." Hikaru said.

"But this just doesn't seem real." Minoru said. "I have a hard time believing that this is what you want from us. It all feels like some bad dream I can't wake up from."

"I can prove it to both of you that this is no dream!" Monokuma said. He ran over to the florist and veterinarian, and out of his paws came two sets of claws. The bear jumped up to each of them and scratched both of them in the face, causing both boys to shout in pain and clutch their faces. "Is that enough proof for you?"

"Why would you do that to them?!" Shizuka asked. "They didn't do anything to deserve it!"

"If it's infection you're worried about, I can assure you that I have exceptional hygiene!" Monokuma said. "My paws are clean of all potential germs! I'm not just smarter than the average bear, I'm also cleaner!"

"I don't think that's what she meant." Miyako said, still speaking in that monotone voice. Just what would need to happen in order to phase her?! She was like a stone Buddha!

"Just relax, they won't be bleeding. It's just a minor flesh would and nothing more! It should heal by the end of the day!" Monokuma said. Both of the boys moved their hands away from their faces. Takara expected to see long cuts with blood, but there were only red marks. That couldn't be possible, they should've suffered some kind of external damage! "But I should think that this is enough to make you understand. You're all trapped here. And that's that. You can't bargain or bribe me to let you go. I have no compassion, sympathy, or pity. It's because I'm a bear, you see. If you want to leave, all you have to do is get away with murder."

"What do you want out of this?" Masaru asked, his voice cracking. "Why put us through all of this?"

"Hm? You ask me what my goal is?" Monokuma said. He looked straight out over the entire class. "Despair. That's all. Even the youth that represent the hope of the country can fall into despair under the correct circumstances. I want to see what your despair in particulr looks like. How it takes form. What you'll do when overtaken by it. I think that says enough, don't you?"

No one could find the words to speak. Looking around the room, Takara could see that some people were shaking, others were in tears, and others were just frozen with shock. They were all appropriate reactions to this situation. They were stuck in a resort with no way out. The only way anyone could leave is if they committed murder. If the culprit was found out they would be executed, but if they got away with it everyone else would be executed. Just thinking about it made Takara herself want to curl up in a ball and cry, but she had her pride to uphold. Monokuma just laughed, breaking the chilling silence.

"Now then, please enjoy your exciting, gruesome mountainside vacation! See you later!" he said. Finished with his special announcement, Monokuma disappeared behind the front desk, leaving the sixteen students standing in the lobby. Everyone was silent, still too shocked to say anything. Who could blame them? Their whole lives were just turned upside down in an instant. Who wouldn't be shocked in this kind of scenario?

"What do we do now?" Shizuka asked, breaking the silence and drawing all eyes towards her. "I mean, we can't just stand here and do nothing." She was still shaking a little bit and she almost looked like she would be sick. It was a drastic difference from the cheery girl Takara had met in the laundromat.

"A better question is what _can_ we do?" Ryouta asked in a wavering voice. "We can't harm the bear, there's no way to tell anyone we're here, and we have to worry about being killed at any moment now!"

"There, there, Ryouta, calm down." Satoshi said, walking over to the florist and resting a hand on his shoulder. "As long as we don't let Monokuma's words get to us, we'll be alright." Well someone wasn't worried about this. How could he be so relaxed at a time like this? No one could possibly be this optimistic. Ryouta flinched and jerked his shoulder away. Takara assumed that he didn't like to be touched.

"As much as I would love to believe you Mr. Teruya, I do not think we will all make it out of this ordeal alive." Chiyo said with a forlorn expression.

"Oh come on, Chiyo. I doubt anyone here would really be so quick to murder, or that most of us have the guts to do it." Ayame said. "You should try to have some faith in us, even if we all just met."

"I did not mean to imply that I do not have faith in you, Ms. Ishikawa." Chiyo said. "Ever since I awoke here, I have been felt an ominous cloud of death surrounding us. I was not sure why I could sense it at first, but now that we know about this mutual killing game it all makes sense to me."

"What are you saying, Chi-Chi? You don't mean..." Kumiko said, unable to finish. Her eyes were already red and puffy, and Takara thought she could see some tears still dripping down her face.

"I am afraid so." Chiyo stated, her head hung low. "Whether it will be tomorrow, or two weeks from now, people are going to die here."

She couldn't be serious! There was no way! Was someone already planning to kill just to leave here? Takara glanced around the group, looking at everyone there. The other fifteen students had begun to glance at everyone else, suspicion already planted in everyone's minds. Monokuma's words rang out in the journalist's head.

" _Oh, believe me. It'll happen eventually! Kids like you always succumb to this kind of despair. It may only take a day, or it could take ten years, but someone will get the itch to kill!_ "

She began to realize that this wasn't her world anymore. This was a completely new world of Monokuma's design. He wanted murder and despair, and he was going to get it. Because even if Chiyo's abilities were a sham, her words were certain to kick off events far beyond anyone's control. The Vacation of Mutual Killing has begun.

 **16 STUDENTS REMAIN**


End file.
